Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Target Corporation $TGT

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 21,359 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,088,000. Target comprises about 1.2% of Harvest Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Target by 10.9% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,267,577 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $113,702,000 after acquiring an additional 124,371 shares during the last quarter. Winning Points Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Target during the fourth quarter worth about $611,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Target by 15.4% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 342,487 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $30,721,000 after acquiring an additional 45,803 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Target by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,194,448 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $605,507,000 after acquiring an additional 142,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Target by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 155,222 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $15,173,000 after acquiring an additional 10,839 shares during the last quarter. 79.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Target Stock Performance

Shares of TGT stock opened at $133.54 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $125.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.33. Target Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.44 and a 52 week high of $137.87. The company has a market cap of $60.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.00.

Target (NYSE:TGT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 20th. The retailer reported $1.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.24. Target had a return on equity of 22.92% and a net margin of 3.24%.The company had revenue of $25.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 earnings per share. Target’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Target has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.500-8.500 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Target Corporation will post 8.35 EPS for the current year.

Target Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This is a boost from Target’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.14. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. Target’s payout ratio is presently 60.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TGT. Bank of America began coverage on Target in a report on Friday, February 27th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Argus set a $150.00 price objective on Target in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Target from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Target in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered Target from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cara A. Sylvester sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.89, for a total transaction of $1,258,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 45,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,782,127.70. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Target Profile

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) is a U.S.-based general merchandise retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The company operates a network of full-line and small-format stores across the United States alongside a national e-commerce platform and mobile app. Target’s retail assortment spans apparel, home goods, electronics, groceries and household essentials, plus beauty, baby and pet categories. The firm complements national brands with a portfolio of owned and exclusive labels and partnerships that help differentiate its merchandise assortment.

Target traces its roots to the Dayton Company, founded by George Dayton in 1902; the Target discount chain was launched in 1962 and the parent company later adopted the Target Corporation name.